This invention is directed to a charcoal cooker that can be used as a grill for cooking steaks or can be used as a rotisserie for slower cooking of ribs, chicken, turkey, or the like.
In a charcoal cooker of this type, there is typically a main cooker body, often shaped as a box, with a grille removably situated at the top and a lid that can be opened for access to the grill and closed for cooking with slow, uniform heat. A rotisserie spit, i.e., one or more rods or spears that extend transversely across the cooker, is adapted to hold one or more whole chickens, roasts, or similar items, and mates with a drive for rotating the rotisserie spit during the cooking process. In some cases, a rotisserie basket is used, i.e., for barbecue cooking of pork ribs, fish, large slabs of meat, vegetables, and other items.
The typical rotisserie requires the spit rod and the grill to be positioned over the main fire box or charcoal grid, but rotisserie grilles have been lacking in means for providing uniform cooking heat over the extent of time needed for roasting, which can take over an hour. Low-heat slow rotisserie cooking may exceed two hours.
There has been a need for a small charcoal cooker for picnics, tail-gate parties, or other outings and which is capable of being used both for grilling chops and steaks, and for roasting beef and pork roasts or chickens. Because the fire is typically directly beneath the meat on the spit, juices and oils from the meat drip into the fire and the resulting smoke and fumes can affect the flavor of the roasted meat.
A few charcoal cookers have been proposed which have a vertical fire box and in which a rotisserie spit can be positioned along side the vertical fire box. However, these earlier proposed cookers are capable of being used with their fire box in the vertical orientation only. None of the fire baskets or fire boxes in the earlier charcoal cookers are capable of being used in either or both a horizontal and a vertical position, and none can be rotated between a horizontal position and a vertical position while the coals are burning.
Ideally, a picnic or tail-gating charcoal cooking oven should be completely portable, and capable of being carried in one hand by use of a handle, and further should be configured so that any removable parts, such as a grill, a rotisserie spit, drip pan, and electric spit drive motor, can be contained on or within the main body of the unit, so it can be easily carried to or from the picnic or party site, and so that it can be packed for compact storage.